HALIFAX - The final report by a panel examining Nova Scotia's crown share dispute with Ottawa has determined the province is owed hundreds of millions of dollars from the decades-old offshore resources agreement, a government source said Friday.
"It's says very clearly that crown share payments are owed to Nova Scotia ... so right off the bat that's good," the source told The Canadian Press.
Premier Rodney MacDonald has long maintained that settlement of the crown share would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Nova Scotia.
Although no final number has been determined, the source confirmed that the premier's hopes may well be realized in the more than 80-page report by a federal-provincial panel.
"It would appear after a quick review that the panel has agreed with him."
The source said payments would be owed the province for the Sable Island natural gas project and will be owed once the Deep Panuke gas project comes on line.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Michael Baker confirmed that a copy of the report was received Friday by officials in his department and by federal Finance officials in Ottawa.
But the minister was reluctant to talk about any potential windfall or even whether the eventual result would mean good news for the province.
"We believe it's positive ... but until we have a chance to review it, I can't confirm that to be the absolute fact," said Baker. "We need to calculate what this means for Nova Scotia."
Baker said the final numbers would have to be determined in talks with Finance Department officials in Ottawa and, until then, he's reluctant to discuss the panel's findings in detail.
The dispute over crown share dates back to'86, when Ottawa promised Nova Scotia compensation for giving up its ownership interest in offshore resources.
The province said it has never received compensation.
The establishment of the panel was part of an agreement reached last October by MacDonald and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to settle a dispute over equalization.
Changes made in the 2007 federal budget forced the province to make a choice between a new richer equalization formula and the offshore accord signed with the Liberal government of then-Prime Minister Paul Martin in 2005.
Known as the Atlantic Accord, it shielded both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador from equalization clawbacks on offshore energy revenues.
But Ottawa's 2007 budget placed a cap on the amount of offshore revenue the province was entitled to before the federal government would again claw back revenues.
MacDonald eventually settled on a "best of" deal that would allow Nova Scotia to choose from either the old or the new system each year.
In the face of mounting criticism that the province had been short-changed, the premier admitted that the crown share issue was key to winning the settlement with Ottawa.
"The most important aspect, I believe, is the crown share, something we've been trying to get for 20 years and to the prime minister's credit he has recognized that," MacDonald told reporters last October.
In March, the province was so confident in its position that it announced ahead of the panel's report that it would spend 30 per cent, to a maximum of $75 million of its expected revenues, on trusts used to invest in the offshore energy sector, protected land and university infrastructure.
The creation of the trusts enabled the province to include the expenditures on the 2007-08 books.
The remaining 70 per cent will go toward paying down the province's massive $12.3-billion accumulated debt.
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